Red Wing was hopping this weekend with more thank 100 performers playing at 16 different venues at the Big Turn Festival. It’s fewer performers and venues than last year. I missed a few of the venues but I have to admit, I don’t miss missing so many bands because turns out you can only be in one place at a time.
Missing bands is a real struggle. It was fun to run into so many people and I’m going to apologize to the folks I wanted to see but couldn’t. That list is twice as long as the bands I did see.
We started the weekend picking up our festival wrist bands at the Sheldon Theater by seeing Dave Simonett. It was a brief view but sounded great. Actually, it was a terrific start to a fun weekend!
Al Green at the Home Plate has such a sweet voice. The ballads were touching, even if the crowd was sort of loud.
Fun to see a young band like Until Apocalypse at Liberty’s. Big points for getting the crowd participation going!
We ended our night at the Elk’s with Loud Mouth Brass. They have so much energy and played such a fun range of songs. I nice way to bridge folks toward Day Two.
We did a little sightseeing on Saturday, before the official festivities began.
We started our Saturday of excitement with Mark Twain Outloud, a reading of Mark Twain’s work at Mandy’s Coffeehouse.
A great thing about a festival is the opportunity to see music you wouldn’t normally see, such as Bells of the Bluffs handbell ensemble at St Paul’s Lutheran Church. Amazing and charming.
We got in early to check out Connie Evingson in the Jazz Club at the St James Hotel. Felt super classy for a hot minute. The music was lovely and there was a wait to get in, which we avoided by being early.
Up Up Over, is a new facet of Mike Munson. He plays a 12-string guitar in an atmospheric way that drive the music to foreground. It would add a melodic twist to Drone Not Drones.
Molly Brandt’s voice sounded amazing in the Sheldon Theater. Fun to see her in such a classy setting.
Sunken Planes played at Liberty’s. They are a very rock band. It was our shift to the late night sound.
There was a full house for Turn Turn Turn at the Sheldon Theatre. They sounded great in the space and it was fun to see them with the full band. Bonus with them is that they also look as great as they sound – perfect costuming.
Fun to see Fathom Lane in a bike shop. The sound was surprising good – amidst the $10,000 bikes. The whole vibe was good.
Stopped at Tootsie Too’s (a dance studio) for Thomas Abban where I ran into just about every other musician at the fest. Watching him play magnifies his talent – I can barely understand how his modified guitar would work in theory, never mind in practice.
Popped in for a quick look at Linus at the Home Plate. Solid pop punk. Sometimes you’ve got to follow your crowd but if I had been alone, I would have hung out longer.
The Twins of Franklin played at St Paul’s Lutheran Church. The setting was perfect for the indy-folk sound. They seem comfortable on stage, like family and that makes the show very warm and comfortable.
Back to Christ Episcopal Church to see the Foxgloves. I was wondering what to expect since I saw them about two weeks ago and noticed one of the singers (Steph Snow) was very pregnant. Congrats on the new baby! And they sounded great.
Caught the tail end of Welby June at the Home Plate sporting a quicky sound of funk with a hint of mysticism and electronics.
Ended the night staying at the Home Plate to see Big Salt. Man they brought it. Sally Linda with her cool 80s look for the day that was in it but it was the garage grange that got folks dancing. And heard a couple of new tunes!
Mostly Minnesota 